Part of the script: Actor Jeremy Kewley kept the cameras rolling during sex assaults

Adam Cooper

Jeremy Kewley made a career of acting to the camera. And when it came to getting his sexual gratification from boys, he left the camera running in the hope of getting away with it.

Kewley, who depicted crooks, cops and lawyers in stints on Australia's most popular television programs, is now in custody awaiting sentence for sexually assaulting 16 boys over 22 years after luring them to his home to audition for advertisements and movies.

After getting the boys to wear Lycra costumes, Kewley photographed and then wrestled them after telling them it was all part of the script, the County Court heard on Wednesday.

During this contact, the court heard, he sexually assaulted the boys by pressing himself against them, kissing them on the face or putting his hand on their groins.

Defence counsel Con Heliotis​, QC, said Kewley knew what he was doing was wrong but lacked the insight to realise the damage he would cause his victims and their families.

"He believed he could get away with a lot of this without hurting the victim," Mr Heliotis told judge Duncan Allen.

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"He believed the concealment of his behaviour within the script meant the victims wouldn't realise they were being exploited."

Any misapprehension Kewley had was wiped when he learned the contents of victim impact statements, which outlined the devastation that had followed his offending in 1989, 1991, 2002, 2003 and 2011.

His victims were aged between nine and 14 at the time, and now comprise men in their 20s and 30s and boys in their teens.

"This man robbed me of my life," said one of the older victims, who has survived suicide attempts and substance abuse and once aspired to a career in the entertainment industry.

Another victim could not erase the memory of Kewley pressing against him, while another lived in fear that the perpetrator would attend his home and "kill me" for reporting to police.

The mothers of several victims expressed the guilt, anger and sense of betrayal at allowing Kewley to take their sons upstairs at his Brighton home while they waited downstairs, unaware of what was really happening.

Another victim said he didn't want his mother to know what really happened for fear the guilt would destroy her. He told the court it was his job as a teacher to inspire and empower children, whereas to Kewley he said: "you are nothing and you will have nothing."

Kewley, 55, who has credits on Neighbours, Cop Shop, Stingers, The Sullivans and the legal drama Janus but is now unemployable, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault, 14 charges of committing an indecent act on a child, two of producing child pornography and one of possessing child pornography.

It was while conducting screen tests for a short film, Malevolence, in June and July of 2011, that Kewley sexually assaulted 12 boys, while depicting a father who attacks his sons, prosecutor Nanette Rogers said.

The screen tests were real and the film was released, the court heard, but it is understood none of the victims feature in it.

Kewley met his first victim on the set of Young Talent Time and told him he wanted the boy to audition for an advertisement, Dr Rogers said, and on top of the sexual assault, left a video camera running in the room where the boy got changed into and out of costumes.

Following Kewley's 2014 arrest, victims identified themselves in footage and in photo albums seized by police from his home and holiday house in Mitta Mitta, Dr Rogers said. Police found almost 200 images of child pornography on computer hard drives.

Mr Heliotis said Kewley was remorseful, both for his victims and his own family given the media coverage his case had brought.

He told a psychologist he couldn't comprehend his conduct, the court heard, and wanted to apologise, although he offered a perfunctory "My apologies to you all" before he was led into custody.

He will be sentenced in May. His lawyer conceded a jail term was required but called for a long community corrections order to follow so Kewley could continue undergoing treatment for sex offenders.